The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance yesterday said that President Chen Shui-bian's (
In a news conference with both local and foreign media yesterday, Chen, among various other points set forth with regard to cross-strait interaction, called for the signing of an agreement between the both sides of the Taiwan Strait on the establishment of a framework for peace and stability as well as an exchange of envoys.
"We think that the president only brought up issues but not answers to those issues. We highly doubt whether President Chen Shui-bian can really implement the program he spoke about," said PFP caucus leader Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), adding that Chen's comments were "empty words."
During the press conference, Chen also proposed setting up a demilitarized zone on both sides of the Strait. The idea was similar to that outlined by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) last Saturday when he pledged that he would withdraw all military forces from Taiwan's outlying islands in the Kinmen group if he wins the presidential election. Lien also said that he would travel to China to ask Beijing to remove its missiles aimed at Taiwan if he takes office.
The pan-blue alliance criticized Chen's call for a cross-strait demilitarization zone, saying that such an idea was contradictory to one of the two questions Chen announced for his planned referendum, as he plans to ask the people whether they support enhancing the nation's defensive capabilities should China refuse to withdraw the missiles it had targeted at Taiwan.
Meanwhile, with the presidential election approaching, PFP Chairman James Soong (
Referring to the accusation made by the former chairman of the Tuntex Group, Chen Yu-hao (
In three open letters, faxed to select media and opposition lawmakers on Monday, Chen Yu-hao said that Chen Shui-bian had accepted his donations in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election and the Taipei City mayoral race in 1998. Chen Yu-hao is one of the nation's 10 most-wanted fugitives, and was indicted on charges of breach of trust in August 2002
Stressing that Chen Yu-hao's letters were not at all part of a scheme developed by his party, Soong went on and lambasted the Chen administration of being corrupt, branding the Presidential Office "the black-gold epicenter."
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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